Relay question...

[treed2 at u.washington.edu (T. Reed)]

I agree, take the time to wire in fuses.

I never really thought about the consequences of an electrical fire until
last October or so when my engine stalled in heavy traffic, followed by my
starter motor getting stuck on. It ran and ran and ran, draining the
battery while getting red hot.

I couldn't get out of the car to open the hood and disconnect it because
there was 45 mph+ traffic going by on both sides (I was in the middle
lane) so I just sat there and watched in horror as smoke poured out from
under my hood. When I finally made it out and yanked the positive battery
terminal off, the starter wire was on fire and its insulation was
completely melted and dripping on to the ground. I blew out the flames..
and luckily it didn't catch anything on fire. I could have wound up with
a burnt wiring harness and airbox or an exploded battery.

Amazingly, my starter wire is still unfused. I decided that "if the
factory didn't do it, why should I?"

I did replace the starter and starter wiring though.

-Toby

On Sat, 17 May 2003, Julie Macfarlane wrote:

> The wires burn, damaging other wires. Something oil soaked catching fire...
>
> The  inline blade type fuses for 30A are $2. Dont take the short cut.
>
>
>
> Julie Macfarlane
> Menlo Park Research & Development
> Internet Application Developer
> www.menloparkrandd.com
> www.montgomeryweb.org
> Amsterdam NY
>
>
>
>
>
> >From: Ryan H <rhock99@epix.net>
> >To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> >Subject: Relay question...
> >Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 17:50:19 -0400
> >
> >This goes out to Patrick in particular, but anyone can answer:
> >Is it really necessary to run a fuse block in-between the power wiring of
> >Euro headlight relay systems?  I mean, at worst, the bulbs blow out and the
> >wiring gets burnt, right?
> >And would this ever be likely to happen anyway?  Thanks.
> >
> >
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